Arif Mammadov (; born 22 September 1964) is an Azerbaijani former diplomat and

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Comedy ...

activist.

Career

From March 1991 until June 1992, Mammadov served as a Senior Adviser at the Department of International Affairs at the City Council of

Baku, Azerbaijan Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

. In 1993 he joined the Department of State Protocol of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the

Republic of Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russi ...

. From 1994 to 1995, he was the 2nd Secretary at the Department of Europe, USA, and Canada. In 1995, Arif Mammadov was appointed as the 2nd Secretary to the Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the

Kingdom of Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southe ...

. In 1998, he became the 1st Secretary and from 1999 to 2000 he held the position of the Counselor. From 2000 until 2006, Mammadov was the Head of the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

with an office in Brussels. At the same time, he was the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to the

Kingdom of Netherlands The Kingdom of the Netherlands (, ;, , ), commonly known simply as the Netherlands, is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united under the monarch of the Netherlands, who functions as head of state. The rea ...

and

Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembourg ...

from 2004 to 2006. From January 2007 to September 2012, Mammadov was the Head of the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

Strasbourg, France Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin department and the official seat of the European Parliament. The cit ...

. During this appointment, he chaired a number of high level conferences organized by the Council of Europe and its member states. In 2008-2010 he was a Thematic Coordinator on Information Policy of the Council of Europe. He also was a Chair of the Rapporteur Group on Education, Culture, Sport, Youth, and Environment of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and from 2010 to 2012 a Member of the Governing Board of European Wergeland Center. In 2011-2012, he was a co-chair of the Council of Europe Exchange on Religious Dimension of Intercultural Dialogue. From 2012 to 2013 he joined again the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan as the Head of the Department of Human Rights and Democracy. Since June 2013, he headed (as their first EU Ambassador) the Mission to the EU of the Jeddah-based

Organization of Islamic Cooperation The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC; ; ), formerly the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, is an intergovernmental organisation founded in 1969. It consists of 57 member states, 48 of which are Muslim-majority. The Pew Forum on ...

(OIC). As of 2019, he directed his efforts, first of all, to establishing strong political and economic relations with the European Union and cooperating in the field of

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material and Humanitarian Logistics, logistic assistance, usually in the short-term, to people in need. Among the people in need are the homelessness, homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. Th ...

, inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue, combating

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

and

islamophobia Islamophobia is the irrational fear of, hostility towards, or hatred against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general. Islamophobia is primarily a form of religious or cultural bigotry; and people who harbour such sentiments often stereot ...

. In March 2015 Mammadov published a post about a fire in Baku which killed 15 people, "There is no nation that would stand that shame and injustice," he wrote on his Facebook page "Officials earn millions on our people's sufferings, and if they do not fear our people's anger, they must fear God's wrath!". In response, the pro-government website Haqqin.az called Mammadov a "traitor" and suggested that Mammadov, along with a number of Azerbaijani diplomats who "liked" his Facebook post were involved in a conspiracy. Shortly after, the General Secretariat of the OIC recalled Mamedov from the post of OIC Permanent Representative to the EU. Five other diplomats who liked Mamedov's post were also fired from the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. In August 2015 the National Central Bureau of Interpol in the Republic of Azerbaijan issued an international warrant for Mammadov's arrest on corruption charges. In 2017, Mammadov gave an interview to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' about corruption among members of the Azerbaijani delegation to the Council of Europe. According to Mammadov, they spent over 30 million euros on lobbying in the Council of Europe institutions, including the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up of ...

(PACE). In 2018, Mammadov became a key witness in the investigation of allegations of corruption in PACE in the aftermath of the "

Caviar Diplomacy Caviar diplomacy is a lobbying strategy of Azerbaijan, consisting of costly invitations to foreign politicians and employees of international organizations to Azerbaijan at the expense of the host country. Caviar diplomacy also includes expensive ...

" report by the

European Stability Initiative The European Stability Initiative (ESI) is a think tank focusing on South East Europe and enlargement of the European Union. It has offices in Berlin, Brussels and Istanbul. History The ESI was founded in June 1999 in Sarajevo. Its founders, mult ...

. He was also present at the trial of the Italian MP Luca Volontè t; fr in the Italian court. According to Mammadov, Volonte's lawyers were financed by Azerbaijan. In May 2020, Mammadov became a co-founder of the Azerbaijani civil platform "BIZ" he is also the co-chair of the AND (Democracy for Azerbaijan movement).

Other

From 2008 to 2012, Mammadov was a member of the Governing Board of the Oslo-base
European Wergeland Centre
a European resource centre on education for intercultural understanding, human rights and democratic citizenship. He advocates for active youth involvement in international affairs, thus initiating a number of projects for youth.

Personal life

Besides politics, he is interested in sports and music. Along with his native

Azerbaijani language Azerbaijani ( ; , , ) or Azeri ( ), also referred to as Azerbaijani Turkic or Azerbaijani Turkish (, , ), is a Turkic languages, Turkic language from the Oghuz languages, Oghuz sub-branch. It is spoken primarily by the Azerbaijanis, Azerbaij ...

, Arif Mammadov is also fluent in

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and

Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

/Ethiopian.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mammadov, Arif Azerbaijani diplomats 1964 births Living people Ambassadors of Azerbaijan to Belgium Ambassadors of Azerbaijan to the Netherlands Ambassadors of Azerbaijan to Luxembourg Permanent representatives of Azerbaijan to the Council of Europe Political controversies in Azerbaijan